I have only just had the chance to see whats happening after many months away working in reote places where 14.4k dialup is a luxury.....i am really keen to enjoy the latest release...

I have been following this experience for many years and If i am around long enough before i dissappear into the wilderness again i will stop by the wiki redevlopment and see where i can lend a hand....

If I'm correct, the underlying system is Kubuntu 8.10, which have been dead version for a year now ...

You are right, it is mainly because of a long release cycle due to little human resource available.It is possible to try the 1004 alpha, but that is an alpha of course. Works quite well for some, but you need some knowhow.